The Role Of Partnerships And Strategic Alliances With Customers And Suppliers

by David Brock on August 28th, 2009

FREE PROMOTIONAL OFFER Through September 25, 2009, See The End Of The Post!

In May-June of 2009, Partners In EXCELLENCE conducted a market research survey to learn more about the importance of Strategic Alliances and Partnerships With Customers and Suppliers.

We conducted this study after seeing some disturbing trends reported in the PWC 12th Annual Global CEO Survey. In that survey, one of the issues the CEO’s identified as a priority was building stronger strategies around collaboration.

There were a few interesting data points in the PWC Survey:

57% of the CEO’s agreed or agreed strongly that collaborative business networks would be a defining organizational principle for business.

71% believed collaborative business relationships are critical with customers and clients.

Only about 40% believed the same about supply chain partners.

We found the gap of more than 30% between customers and suppliers to be very disconcerting. Depending on your point of view, everyone is a customer or a supplier. We believe there needs to be alignment in partnering strategies throughout the organization–with both customers, clients, and suppliers.

As a result, we conducted a survey to test our thoughts. Happily, we found the participants in the survey confirmed much of what we thought. A few summary observations are below.

Partnering and collaboration with both customers and suppliers is a key strategy for the respondents.

The primary results from partnering were much deeper relationships and far better understanding of customers. A second result was increased revenue and share of customer.

The importance of establishing collaborative relationships is more important now, in the downturn, than it was before the downturn, though it has been important to the majority of the respondents for some time.

There are only minor differences in views based on company size (Companies over $100M in Revenue, and those less than $100M).

The results, particularly the importance of working with closely with suppliers is sharply in contrast to the results expressed in the PWC CEO survey. They had a much lower priority in working collaboratively with suppliers than the respondents to this survey.

The big surprise is the respondents felt strong relationships with suppliers contributed positively to their ability to sell to and support their customers. Stated differently, each level of the value delivery chain can have a positive impact in value delivery to the customer. With supplier consolidations and pressure for concessions (price, delivery, etc.), we had expected a neutral to negative impact.

You can order a full copy of this report for $49.95. It will be delivered to you as a PDF. Along with a copy of the report, you receive a free consultation call to discuss the implications of these results on your organizational strategy.

Until September 25 2009, we have a special promotional offer, you can get a copy of this report for free by making a contribution of $25.00 or more to support Dave Brock’s ride in the Southern California MS 150 on October 10-11.

Your contribution will go towards research and support of the millions of people and families impacted by this disease.

Imagine, you can get a free copy of this report, make a tax deductible contribution of $25 or more, and get the personal gratification of knowing you are supporting a tremendous cause.

To get this promotional offer, just Follow This Link, make a tax deductible contribution, supporting Dave Brock’s ride, then send Dave an email saying you have made the contribution and requesting the report. You can reach Dave at dabrock@excellenc.com

For a free peek at Sales Manager Survival Guide, click the picture or link. You’ll get the Table of Contents, Foreword, and 2 free Chapters.Free Sample

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This is Dave Brock's Blog. It offers my views on a variety of business, sales, marketing, and leadership topic. My goal is to make a difference for you, the reader, in both your professional and personal lives.

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